David Raymond Amos @DavidRayAmos
Replying to @DavidRayAmos @Kathryn98967631 and 49 others
Methinks Jean-Yves Duclos, the CBC, the RCMP and the evil old judge Michel Bastarache must know that I am paying attention and writing 3 more lawsuits N'esy Pas?
davidraymondamos3.blogspot.com/2017/09/cbc-sa
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/merlo-davidson-settlement-more-money-1.5386280
RCMP to get more money to settle sexual harassment lawsuit
Supplementary estimates include an extra $50 million to the settlement
· CBC News · Posted: Dec 05, 2019 6:30 PM ET
The settlement covers all women who were harassed while working for the RCMP during and after September 1974. (Valerie Zink/Reuters)
The federal government is promising to
give the Royal Canadian Mounted Police more money to cover a historic
class-action lawsuit after more women than originally expected came
forward with stories of harassment and sexual abuse.
Today, Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos tabled the supplementary estimates in the House of Commons, which includes a top-up of more than $50 million for the RCMP to cover the out-of-court settlement.
Known as the Merlo-Davidson settlement, after plaintiffs Janet Merlo and Linda Davidson, the lawsuit covers all women who were harassed while working for the RCMP during and after September 1974. Each victim is eligible for a payout of between $10,000 and $220,000.
When the settlement was announced back in 2016, the government set aside $100 million to cover the claims but said it was open to increasing the sum if necessary. The 2019-2020 supplementary estimates include a line giving the settlement another $50,135,621.
The
RCMP originally expected about 1,000 people to submit claims. In the
end, the assessor's office received more than three times that number.
Facing more payouts, the RCMP flagged the need for more money in a memo
to Public Safety Canada last year.
Successful
claimants are awarded compensation on a sliding scale, ranging from
level one claims — which cover sexualized comments — to level six
claims involving "forcing [the] complainant to engage in penetrative sex
acts."
As of Dec. 1, independent assessor Michel Bastarache (a former Supreme Court justice) and his team have rendered decisions on 2,514 of the 3,131 claims.
Duclos will introduce a bill sometime this month seeking approval for an extra $4.9 billion in funding across government departments.
The RCMP has reached a second settlement — for about another $100 million — for women who worked for the force in non-policing roles, including municipal staff, contractors and volunteers.
CBC's Journalistic Standards and PracticesToday, Treasury Board President Jean-Yves Duclos tabled the supplementary estimates in the House of Commons, which includes a top-up of more than $50 million for the RCMP to cover the out-of-court settlement.
Known as the Merlo-Davidson settlement, after plaintiffs Janet Merlo and Linda Davidson, the lawsuit covers all women who were harassed while working for the RCMP during and after September 1974. Each victim is eligible for a payout of between $10,000 and $220,000.
When the settlement was announced back in 2016, the government set aside $100 million to cover the claims but said it was open to increasing the sum if necessary. The 2019-2020 supplementary estimates include a line giving the settlement another $50,135,621.
As of Dec. 1, independent assessor Michel Bastarache (a former Supreme Court justice) and his team have rendered decisions on 2,514 of the 3,131 claims.
Duclos will introduce a bill sometime this month seeking approval for an extra $4.9 billion in funding across government departments.
The RCMP has reached a second settlement — for about another $100 million — for women who worked for the force in non-policing roles, including municipal staff, contractors and volunteers.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/justin-trudeau-cabinet-alberta-saskatchewan-1.5366626
Trudeau's cabinet picks seem designed to project stability, seriousness
In 2015, 'change' was the driving narrative. The stakes for Trudeau are higher now - and time is short.
· CBC News · Posted: Nov 20, 2019 3:01 PM ET
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is at Rideau Hall today watching new and returning members of the federal cabinet take their oaths of office. (Justin Tang/The Canadian Press)
Justin Trudeau's Liberals were shut out in Alberta and Saskatchewan last month, but the provinces got a shout-out in the cabinet choices the prime minister announced today.
Lacking an MP from the region, Trudeau tried for the next best thing. He named two key ministers with ties to the two provinces, and positioned a former cabinet minister as his eyes and ears in the Prairies.
To absolutely no one's surprise, Trudeau tapped Chrystia Freeland as his minister of intergovernmental affairs and deputy prime minister.
Chrystia Freeland is sworn in as the new Deputy Prime Minister as well as the new Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, a key portfolio that will have to deal with some dissatisfied Premiers across the country. 0:43
The first of those roles is to work with the premiers — particularly prominent Trudeau antagonists Jason Kenney of Alberta and Scott Moe of Saskatchewan — to show that Trudeau not only understands the frustration of people in those provinces, but intends to respond.
Her second role is more symbolic: Freeland becomes the first deputy prime minister since Anne McLellan 15 years ago. (The parallels don't end there. McLellan represented an Alberta riding, Freeland comes from the province and has family there. Both are women. Both enjoy unfettered access to their boss.)
Second among equals
Making Freeland deputy PM signals that while Trudeau remains first among equals as prime minister, she's clearly second.
Her job is to use the diplomatic skills she honed in dealing with the Trump administration to find solutions to regional grievances, starting in the Prairies.
That doesn't mean capitulating to (for example) Moe's demand that the federal price on carbon be suspended, or agreeing to change the way equalization is calculated.
It does mean getting clear, measurable results, as McLellan did, for the oil and gas sector. It also means she takes on the task of addressing the most virulent outbreak of western alienation since the birth of the Reform Party in the early 1990s.
Former Alberta premier Alison Redford said Trudeau's cabinet must include people who are able to sustain a dialogue with the premiers.
"So I think a more robust intergovernmental affairs department under Freeland would be wonderful, with an understanding that things like energy, transportation and infrastructure all need to come together," she said.
A less confrontational approach to climate change?
Freeland will be the lead on the western alienation file, but she might be sharing the load with the new environment minister, Jonathan Wilkinson, who spent many years in Saskatchewan. His style and tone offers a direct contrast to the previous minister, Catherine McKenna — whose assertive approach to the climate change file may have played well with environmentalists but was received poorly by some provinces.
And former cabinet minister Jim Carr, recently diagnosed with cancer, will act as Trudeau's special representative for the Prairies. That role will keep him close to home in Winnipeg while giving him direct line to the prime minister on regional issues.
Four years ago, Trudeau faced a major challenge in naming his first cabinet. Most of his choices were new not only to government, but to politics as well. He said his inner circle would reflect gender parity "because it's 2015." Change was the driving narrative.
From 'change' to 'continuity'
Four years later, the change narrative has run its course. Experience is the mantra in 2019. The emphasis now is on promoting those with solid communication skills and a proven track record in government.
It all suggests Canadians might be seeing less of Trudeau over the next few years — and more of the team.
Trudeau kept nearly all of his re-elected ministers from the last government. Some — such as Bill Morneau in finance and Carolyn Bennett at Crown-Indigenous relations — continue in their old roles as a nod to stability and some of the ongoing challenges the government faces.
"What we want Canadians to see is that we are going to continue to work on their behalf to make sure that our economy is strong and that we continue to think about how we create opportunities for all Canadians," Morneau said on his way in to the swearing-in ceremony.
The others who remain in their portfolios — Marie-Claude Bibeau at agriculture, Marc Garneau at transport, Navdeep Bains at innovation, science and industry, Harjit Sajjan at defence and Lawrence MacAulay at veterans affairs — are there to signal continuity, to reinforce the idea that the government has unfinished business from the last Parliament.
But continuity was only one element informing Trudeau's choices. Other factors played a role.
The clock is running now
One of those factors almost certainly was time. Trudeau wants tangible results from his minority government — and if history is any guide, he can expect that government to last only two years.
"They key thing we know about cabinets in minority situations is that you need a cabinet with great political skills, that knows where the pitfalls are," said David Herle, who held a senior role in Paul Martin's minority government from 2004-2006.
"Most of these jobs can't help you win an election. But all of these jobs can cost you an election. If you're a minister who doesn't pay attention to detail or doesn't smell out a political problem or have the wherewithal to fight the department down from a bad idea … that can be much more demanding in a minority than a majority government."
Regional alienation has gotten 'worse', says Clark
The other factor may be national unity. Former B.C. premier Christy Clark pointed to the regional tensions in the Prairies and the re-emergence of the Bloc Québécois as a political force in Quebec as significant challenges Trudeau must somehow manage.
"I think that the most important thing this government has to do is fix the federation," said Clark.
Comparing the first four years of Trudeau's government to his father's final years in office, Clark said she thinks "it's worse this time."
"The alienation in the West is much deeper," she said. "The anger in Alberta and Saskatchewan is very, very profound."
They said there are measures in the Liberal election platform that could find national consensus. Provincial infrastructure priorities could dovetail with Ottawa's goal of promoting green tech and fighting climate change, they said, while moves to introduce a pharmacare system (to cover, at least initially, low-income families or those dealing with life-threatening or chronic diseases) should be broadly popular.
It's a substantial to-do list for what could prove to be a short period of time. It's why stability now matters more to the Trudeau government now than change, why cooperation needs to replace confrontation.
Because it's 2019.
About the Author
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/rcmp-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-100-million-settlement-1.5203683
New $100M settlement reached in RCMP sexual harassment case
2nd agreement covers women who worked in non-policing roles over past 45 years
· CBC News · Posted: Jul 08, 2019 7:51 AM PT
Lawyers Angela Bespflug, centre, Janelle O’Connor, left, and Patrick Higgerty speak to reporters during the announcement Monday of an RCMP settlement for former female employees who were discriminated against or harassed while on the job. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
hree years after settling a sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit with female officers for $100 million, the RCMP has reached a second settlement — for about another $100 million — for women who worked for the force in non-policing roles.
The settlement was announced Monday morning by Klein Lawyers LLP, the same Vancouver law firm that handled the first settlement in 2016. The latest pact is subject to approval by a federal court.
Cheryl Tiller, who worked for the force as a stenographer in Yorkton, Sask., and is lead plaintiff, said she was sexually harassed at a retirement party for an RCMP corporal in 2007.
Tiller said a sergeant touched her in a sexual manner while other officers watched.
The Yorkton, Sask., municipal RCMP detachment is in the same building as Yorkton City Hall. The lead plaintiff on a recently settled lawsuit against the RCMP says she worked for the force in Yorkton as a stenographer when she was sexually harassed. (Google Streetview)
An emailed statement from the law firm said women who experienced gender or sexual-orientation-based harassment or discrimination while working as municipal staff, contractors and volunteers on or after Sept. 16, 1974, might be eligible for compensation.
Compensation for proven claims over the 45-year period would range from $10,000 to $222,000 each. There is no cap.
Statistically, the law firm estimates about 1,500 claims will be made to the settlement.
"This settlement is an acknowledgment of the pain experienced by women who were subjected to harassment and sexual assault while working or volunteering with the RCMP," Angela Bespflug, a Vancouver-based lawyer for the plaintiffs, said in a statement.
"No amount of money can compensate these women for the harms that they've endured, but the settlement gives a voice to their experiences."
'This settlement is an acknowledgment of the pain experienced by women who were subjected to harassment and sexual assault while working or volunteering with the RCMP,' says Bespflug, a Vancouver-based lawyer for the plaintiffs. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bespflug said some of the stories she heard working on the case were "horrific."
"We want to thank the plaintiffs for their bravery in commencing this action and sharing their deeply personal stories," the lawyer said, adding her clients' "resilience was humbling."
Asked if there was any resistance to the settlement from the RCMP, Bespflug paused, and said: "It's always a lot of work to reach a settlement. This case was no different."
In a statement Monday, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki said she was "pleased" a settlement was reached.
"While the women were not RCMP employees, they worked with us on our premises and had every right to feel safe and be treated with respect and dignity," Lucki wrote.
"Harassment and discrimination do not have a place in our organization. On behalf of the RCMP, I would like to thank the representative plaintiffs, Cheryl Tiller, Mary Ellen Copland and Dayna Roach for their courage in coming forward. I deeply regret that these women were subject to inappropriate behaviour in our workplace and apologize for the pain caused to them and their families."
More than 3,000 claims filed
In 2016, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson apologized to female Mounties who were harassed, belittled, demeaned or assaulted in the force as he announced a $100 million compensation package at a news conference in Ottawa.
"We hurt you. For that, I am truly sorry," Paulson said.
Janet Merlo and Linda Davidson led the class action lawsuits settled in 2016. At the RCMP apology, they said it was a small but "potent" minority of men who are perpetrators.
RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson, left, wipes his eyes after hugging Janet Merlo, lead plaintiff in the class action for harassment against the RCMP, after the first $100-million settlement was announced in October 2016. (CBC)
More than 3,130 claims had been filed with the Merlo-Davidson settlement as of June 20, 2019.
"Merlo-Davidson helped pave the way for a different cultural environment within the RCMP that perhaps made this case a little more likely to settle," Bespflug said Monday.
The lawyer said the amount of each individual settlement will vary depending on the nature of the harassment endured and the impact it had on a woman's life, as decided by an assessor.
With files from Yvette Brend
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